Tales From the Silver Border
by Tears of Reese
Summary: Read 'Of Faefolk & Fiends' first... "It was a wild place, and held danger and adventure for those who sought it..." The shadows of the Border by the Deep Forest will be tamed by no one... but these six are determined to try. J/OC. Part 2 of 3.


**As stated many times before in my previous story, I don't own Jim Henson's _Labyrinth._**

**Many thanks to Buffy Sparrow for Beta-ing for me... I'm actually motivated to write more :)  
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**Chapter 1 **

Jareth awoke to the sound of chirping birds and the feeling of warm morning sunlight on his face.

The young king smiled contentedly as he stretched his arms above his head; it had been almost three full weeks since he had first arrived. How wrong he had been about this alliance (not that anyone would ever hear him admit it aloud). All the dread and wariness he had felt before meeting his future in-laws seemed silly now.

A slight stirring in the Bond and a soft murmur beside him brought him out of his thoughts. Quickly covering his gentle grin with a satisfied smirk, Jareth flipped over onto his side just in time to see his bride begin to stir and rub her eyes as she awoke. The Elven princess gave him a sleepy smile as she slowly sat up in bed and stretched, arching her back languidly.

Nivienne was so different than how he had assumed she'd be. The girl had earned a reputation of being quiet and shy at Court, and Jareth had fully expected to be forced to wed an insipid, air-headed chit who was only quiet to disguise her own lack of brains. Instead, he found himself married to a fiery, intelligent woman, whose kind and gentle nature hid the force of her drive and courage from the rest of the Fae. Stubborn and proud, almost to the point of absurdity at times, the raven-haired beauty was a powerful healer who had no qualms about fighting to the death to save a patient.

_Oh yes,_ Jareth thought, not for the first time, _She will make an excellent queen._

Before she could get up and go wash, Jareth grabbed his wife and pulled her slender nightgown-clad frame back against his chest. Nivienne just chuckled and wriggled her way around so her cheek was pressed into the hollow on his shoulder while her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. Large aqua-blue eyes peered up through thick, dark lashes at him as Jareth smirked down at his petite elven bride.

"And just why are we looking so smug this morning, husband?"

Jareth just continued to gaze at his wife, his smirk slowly morphing into a teasing smile.

"Oh… I find that having a beautiful girl curled up on my chest, smiling adoringly at my handsomeness is reason enough to smug, Pet."

Nivienne rolled her eyes, giving her husband a playful swat on the chest as she pulled out of his embrace and padded over to the bathroom to take her morning bath. Jareth stared after her as she walked across the room, pondering whether or not it was worth the scolding she would surely give him later were he to drag her back to bed for a few more hours.

The clicking of the bathroom lock quenched that idea, so the Goblin King decided to get dressed and wait for Nivienne in the gardens. A few snatches of song drifted out from the bathroom as he pulled his loose white poet's shirt over his head and slipped into his gray breeches. Smiling over his wife's lovely soprano, he tugged on his knee-high boots. As he left, he called out to Nivienne that he'd have breakfast waiting in the gardens when she was done with her bath. Stifling a grin at her muffled 'thank you', Jareth headed out into the warm morning sunlight.

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The four Elven princes were lounging in the terrace above the gardens when Jareth came out carrying a tray laden with breakfast goodies. As he made his way through the gauntlet of his new kinsfolk, Jareth noticed them exchanging sly glances. He inwardly rolled his eyes, all the while keeping his face in a rather bored mask. Somehow, just because he had married their sister, these meddlesome Elven boys had gotten the ludicrous notion that they had the right to mock and tease him and otherwise interfere with his life.

Jareth knew that his pride would not allow him to take much more of the boys' banter, good-natured though it seemed. He would have to plan something special for them to remind them of their place, he decided. Mismatched eyes shone with undisguised glee as Jareth's perpetual smirk morphed into a rather feral grin that would send any wise Fae running for cover.

It would seem that his newfound family was not of the wise variety, for instead of allowing him to set up his morning meal in peace, the five elves followed him around the gardens, their eyes gleaming with mischievous intent.

As Jareth placed his tray down on a small silver table in a tiny wooded glade just outside the wildflower beds, one of the Elven princes coughed.

"Yes?" Jareth had finally had enough.

"Why the curt tone, Brother?" asked one of the twins (Gavyn, Jareth thought. He could never be sure, not that he really cared) in mock hurt.

"Whatever could we have done to merit such coldness?" wailed the other twin, picking off where his equally annoying double had left off.

"We only wanted to tell you that we're riding out tomorrow…" Alec's deep voice cut in.

"Offer's still open if you want to come along," grinned Aiden, leaning casually against one of the silver-laced trees that dotted the gardens. "It's more excitin' than stayin' here…"

Jareth was about to reply when he caught sight of his bride strolling towards them, enjoying the sights and smells of the beautiful flowers in her garden. He struggled to keep the tender grin off of his face; he didn't think he would ever live it down if he displayed open affection in front of his elven kin.

Nivienne smiled as she made it to the clearing where the boys had gathered. As she passed Aiden and each one of her brothers, she raised herself up on her toes to give them their customary peck on the cheek. Jareth could feel his mouth quirk down into an annoyed sneer.

When she finally reached her husband after being hugged and twirled each one of the boys, she could not help but laugh at his put-out expression. Still chuckling, she leaned up and gave him a quick kiss before settling back onto her feet and leaning back against his chest. Possessively, Jareth wrapped an arm around her waist and glared over the top of her head at the elves who merely grinned back in response.

"What are you six up to?" inquired Nivienne, tilting her head back to look at her husband.

"We're trying to get Jareth to ride with us tomorrow," grumbled Tyr, "but he's being stubborn."

"I really wish…"

Cayden cut his sister off.

"Lass, he's a grown man… he can handle himself, I'm sure."

"Well, I'm a grown woman and that's never stopped you from forbidding me to go along with you!" snapped Nivienne, glaring up at her favorite brother.

"That's different! You're our little sister!" Cayden protested. "We're not going to just willingly put you in danger… Ada agrees with us, you know…"

"But you'll willingly put my husband in danger… Face it, Brother… if Jareth goes, I go." Nivienne jutted her chin out stubbornly.

"No. You are not." Alec growled, his stance rigid, his manner inflexible as he loomed menacingly over his little sister.

Jareth nodded, immediately voicing his concurrence – for once those incorrigible elves and he agreed on something. Nivienne immediately rounded on him, eyes blazing.

"I know these forests better than you do, and yet you seem to have no problem trotting off with these five, despite the recent attacks!!"

"And you think that I'm going to allow my wife to go exploring in such an environment?" Jareth drawled, staring down at the irate Elven girl before him. "You are staying here, Nivienne… even if I have to lock you in your chambers and order Wert and Snerb to keep watch."

The Elves stood on the sidelines, watching Jareth match wills with their sister. Breakfast sat forgotten on its table as husband and wife stood frozen, locked in a cold stare-down. To everyone's surprise, Nivienne lowered her eyes first.

"If you must go, you must, I suppose," she sighed, gently extracting herself from her husband's grip. She whirled around to face her family. "Keep him away from any real danger!"

She began to walk away, only to pause by Alec and pull him down by his collar so they were looking eye-to-eye.

"If he doesn't come back in one piece, I shall hold you personally responsible," she hissed through tightly clenched teeth, eyes all but throwing sparks.

With that, the petite elven princess walked calmly away, turning into the gardens, and soon melted into the wild tangle of flowers and vines that meandered through the twisting paths of the Elven Royal Gardens.

Aiden let out a slow whistle as he glanced back and forth between the seemingly frozen Goblin King and the rustling arch of greenery where his cousin had disappeared. Tyr blinked a couple of times before turning to Jareth.

"So… are you in?"

"Why not?" Jareth shrugged. "Seems like it will be amusing at least…"

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The next morning came, warm and sunny. Six powerful chargers stood, packed and ready to carry their masters into the Forest. Already, the princes had mounted and were holding their horses still as they waited impatiently for Jareth to appear. Dressed in well-worn tan leathers and green cloaks faded almost gray from use, stained here and there with patches of old blood, they double-checked their weapons and adjusted their quivers and bows on their backs.

"We told him sunup," grumbled Tyr, pulling up on the reigns to still his restless mount.

"It's _Jareth_…" drawled Aiden, "you know how bloody arrogant he can be… my bet is that he'll show when he pleases…."

"We should get going, Cousin…" Alec sighed.

"Give 'im five minutes… then we leave."

Just then, the Fae in question appeared, completely unruffled over his apparent tardiness. Nonchalantly, Jareth mounted his horse and adjusted his black cloak. Like his brothers-in-law, he was wearing faded leathers, worn in a few patches and studded with mythril and silver. Two onyx enameled scabbards hung loosely on both his hips, scratched and chipped from many battles and skirmishes.

Tyr whistled appreciatively as he stared at the weapons. Gavyn smirked, looking his sister's husband up and down.

"We were expecting something a bit more flashy…. Good to see you have some common sense…"

"What kind of king would I be…" Jareth's voice was low and deadly, "…if I had never led my people into battle?"

"A damned foolish one," grinned Cayden. "My twin meant no offence, Brother. We trust our sister with you… that is proof enough that you have our respect…"

"… to some extent…" muttered Tyr. "We shall see if you earn any more…"

"Perhaps," Jareth's voice had not lost that hard, quiet edge, "you should try and earn _my_ respect as well."

Before anything more could be said, Nivienne came running down the steps to where her brothers stood waiting. Going to each one of them, she whispered something, eyes alight with mischief, and gently patted their mount as she hurried to each of her kin.

Stopping next to Jareth's mount, she stared soberly up at him, the twinkle in her eyes giving way to worry. She pressed up against the side of his horse, her chin just level with his knee. Wide blue-green eyes stared up at him out of a pale face as she reached up and gently rested slender fingertips on his thigh.

"You'll be careful?"

A tender look came to Jareth's eyes as he felt her concern for his safety flicker across their Bond. Gazing down at his bride, he covered her hand with his own larger one.

"Of course, Pet." His deep baritone was surprisingly gentle.

"Jareth… I've seen what can happen to the trained Rangers that go out there…"

"I'll come back, Pet – whole… I promise." Now he just sounded smug.

The tiny hand that clutched his leg tightened spasmodically under his fingertips as Nivienne was swept back into the memory of her last healing and the poison that had tried to eat the young Ranger and her alive, even as she had fought to contain it. Shaking her head to clear it, she looked back up at her husband who was gazing worriedly back down at her.

"Just don't let them…" she jerked her head towards her brothers, "… goad you into doing anything stupid…"

Hearing her derisive remark, Cayden laughed and called over,

"Hey! I resent that, Niv! You act as if you don't trust us!"

"I don't!" Came the laughing response. Nivienne turned back to Jareth. "Just promise you'll be careful…" she begged.

"I promise, Love… again." He couldn't resist adding that last part.

It seemed to be what she needed to hear to break her grim mood, for she laughed and patted his leg before turning and bidding farewell to her brothers once again. After demanding one last time that they stay away from anything truly dangerous, she retreated to the steps of the Palace and waved goodbye to them as they began their trek into the wilds of the Silver Border.

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**A/N. Now don't get your hopes up... it may be quite a while before any more chapters are published.... writer's block is a terrible thing.... Still, I wanted to give you guys a little something to show that I have indeed been working on the promised companion piece and not just lazing around on my end of the computer...**


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